Waste of the Day: Federal Funds Go to Unsafe Housing In Boston

Topline: The City of Boston is expected to spend $34 million in the next year to place low-income families in homes that are “not always decent, safe and sanitary,” according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Boston comes a cropper with its housing Hobson’s choice

Key facts: The Housing Choice voucher program allows Boston and other cities around the nation to use federal funds on rent for needy families. Eligible homes must meet federal quality standards listed in the NSPIRE rule.

Federal auditors inspected 87 homes that Boston officials said were meeting the standards and found that 50 of them — 57 percent — had deficiencies such as electrical hazards, mice infestations, broken carbon monoxide detectors and staircases with missing stairs.

Fifteen of the homes had “life-threatening” issues.

Inspectors found many hazards that were supposedly corrected but were still present. One apartment passed an inspection in March 2023 because Boston officials said mold and mildew had been removed from the bathtub, but federal inspectors said the mold was still there.

Cities in the federal housing program are required to test children living in homes with lead-based paint to make sure their blood does not contain elevated levels of lead. Boston officials said they were ignoring the law because they “did not have a firm understanding” of it.

Inspectors found 193 issues in total, 46 of which had still not been fixed as of April 2024.

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Overpaying for substandard work

Background: Some of the Boston Housing Authority’s electricians and carpenters made up to $230,000 last year with lots of overtime, according to records at OpenTheBooks.com. If the authority has enough in its budget for large overtime payments, it should also have enough money to improve its oversight process.

Meanwhile, some Boston hotels housing homeless families and migrants are billing the state $31 for a single meal.

Summary: Affordable housing should not be synonymous with unsafe housing. If taxpayers are on the hook for their city’s housing crisis, they should at least be getting their money’s worth.

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This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.